


Self Control

by fransoun



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: (Rodimus isn't complaining), M/M, it's actually Magnus, the crew assumes Rodimus is the frag-happy one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-04-19 19:06:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14243817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fransoun/pseuds/fransoun
Summary: Magnus has never been more grateful for his vaunted sense of self-control than when he's on duty with Rodimus. Off duty, on the other hand, is a completely different matter...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [katyamola](https://archiveofourown.org/users/katyamola/gifts).



"Hey, Mags," Rodimus said, stretching his arms above his head, trying to work out a kink in his back as the door to their suite slid shut behind him. "Sorry I'm late. I got caught up by - _mpfh_!"

A tidal wave of blue and white armor swept him up, lifting him and pushing him back against the wall. Magnus caught Rodimus' arms before he could lower them and pinned his wrists above him. Rodimus' legs were spread apart by the sheer girth of the armor between them, and he instinctively wrapped his legs around Magnus' waist.

"I missed you," Magnus growled in his ear, in between nips at the sensitive flare of metal that swept up the side of Rodimus' helm, and in spite of the heat pouring off of Magnus' frame, his denta barely dimpled the metal. It still sent thrills racing through the sensors of Rodimus' helm, surrounding his head in a halonet of pleasure.

"I can - _ah!_ \- I can tell," Rodimus managed through the haze of crackling charge as Magnus pressed a kiss to the flare's base, right next to his cheek. "What's gotten into you, Mags?"

"Nothing _yet_."

Oh, _Primus_ , Magnus and his literal mind, Rodimus managed to think, and then Magnus' mouth was on his.

Even with electricity arcing between his lips, tingling as it leapt to Rodimus' own, Magnus kissed carefully, all too aware of his own looming size in comparison to his lover's. Rodimus urged him on as best he could, licking at Magnus' lips, kissing at the corners of his mouth, darting his tongue out to sweep against Magnus' own. Magnus shuddered as something inside him gave way with a liquid rush, and Rodimus arched his body against him, his lips parting eagerly as Magnus' tongue pushed between them.

When they finally broke apart, Rodimus was breathing just as hard as Magnus. Hot air blasted from his fans like a furnace. If he didn't ask now, Rodimus didn't think he was going to get another chance. And _frag_ , he wanted to know what had gotten Magnus into this state, if only so he could make sure it happened _again_.

"Not that I'm complaining," Rodimus said shakily, as Magnus continued to suck down air, "but what brought this on?"

Magnus took a deep breath. "Spending an entire shift on the bridge with you."

Rodimus blinked. 

"Seeing you there," Magnus went on. "Watching you move, listening to you speak…" He leaned down to kiss Rodimus soundly before continuing. 

"Being so close to you and not being able to touch you…" 

Kiss. 

"To wrap my hands around your waist and pull you up against me…"

Another kiss, and Magnus' voice was getting husky.

"Or to reach out and stroke your spoiler until you fell to your knees in front of me…"

Yet another kiss, this one deep and forceful, tilting Rodimus' helm back, and Rodimus couldn't help but groan needily into it.

"...it was almost unbearable."

Magnus pressed his forehelm against Rodimus', both of them panting again.

"You know," Rodimus suggested after a moment, attempting to sound as casual as he could - which, with his arms pinned above his head and his legs wrapped around Magnus' waist, was not very casual at all - 

"We could - " Rodimus' vocalizer clicked as he reset it. "We could do some of that stuff right now, if you'd like."

"I intend to."

Magnus shifted, taking both of Rodimus' wrists into one hand. ( _Primus_ , he could pin Rodimus to the wall with _one hand_ , that was _so hot_.)

He trailed the back of his fingers of his free hand down the side of Rodimus' helm, pausing to caress Rodimus' cheek with a soft sweep of his thumb, brushing against his lips, and Rodimus shuttered his optics and leaned into Magnus' hand, pushing himself into his touch. 

Then Magnus' hand drifted further down still, and Rodimus tilted his chin up to expose the delicate mechanisms of his neck. Magnus' splayed fingers left swirling trails of heat in their wake as they skimmed lightly over the thin bands of metal that encircled Rodimus' throat. 

He paused above Rodimus' chestplate, then flattened his palm possessively over Rodimus' Autobot shield - right over Rodimus' spark. Rodimus' ventilations hitched and stalled as he wrenched his gaze up, staring right into the burning blue embers of Magnus' optics, overbright with charge. He couldn't seem to catch his breath, and he couldn't look away.

But when Magnus slid his hand from Rodimus' chest to his spoiler, it drew Rodimus' attention with it like a command. Magnus pinched the top of one winglet lightly between thumb and forefinger, and Rodimus gasped. His spoiler trembled as Magnus slid his fingers up the edge, sensation racing after his touch like a live wire.

Suspended as he was, the sensitive underside of Rodimus' spoiler, where the wind howled beneath the flat plane of metal in his alt mode, was wholly exposed to Magnus' grip, and it seemed Magnus intended to exploit that fact to the fullest. 

Rodimus' head fell back against the wall with a _thunk_ as Magnus began to rub circles into the gold-flecked metal, starting out at the farthest edge and moving slowly inwards.

At first his touch registered as little more than a sensor ghost - featherlight, barely there, and leaving Rodimus squirming helplessly in Magnus' grip. Magnus' touch could be delicate in a way few who saw his size would believe, but right now Rodimus desperately wanted _more_.

So, it seemed, did Magnus. By the time his hand reached the base of Rodimus' spoiler, where the metal rejoined Rodimus' quivering frame, Magnus was shaking with suppressed desire, and his touch had Rodimus seeing stars.

Rodimus whined, trying to tighten his legs around Magnus. Arousal had slicked his array, and molten desire was pooling behind his panel. The other wing of his spoiler was screaming for attention - but so was his spike.

Patience had never been Rodimus' strong suit.

"Magnus," he moaned. "Magnus, please."

The blazing hot panel pressed up against his own suggested Magnus was just as revved up as he was. So did the way he dropped his hand to Rodimus' codpiece, skipping over the other half of his spoiler to rub trembling, tantalizing circles over Rodimus' aching array.

It felt good. It felt so good, in fact, that it took Rodimus, awash in waves of fresh pleasure, a few moments to realize Magnus was rubbing those glorious circles over his spike, not his valve.

"Mags," he gasped out. "Mags, wait."

Magnus halted mid-circle, and Rodimus almost cried out at the loss of sensation. He grit his teeth. Communication was important. He had to make sure he and Magnus were on the same page.

"Don't - don't you want to spike me, Mags?"

Magnus hesitated. He shook his head.

"I want you inside me," he finally said, and he sounded almost ashamed, like he'd made some sort of terrible confession.

Realization had always come easiest to Rodimus in the heat of the moment - in the middle of a firefight, or just before re-entry, as the meteor he'd surfed in on began to burn up in the atmosphere around him.

Or right now, surrounded by a different kind of heat, with his arms pinned above his head and Magnus' chest pressed against him.

There and then, Rodimus realized two things. 

The first was that, as _good_ as their relationship had been so far, it was still _new_. Pit, they'd just moved in together a few days before, even if walking through the door already felt like home to him.

The second was that Rodimus had always made the first move. Magnus had reciprocated, of course, usually with such enthusiasm and vigor that Rodimus was left sated and sprawled strutless across their sheets. But Rodimus had always made the first move - until tonight. 

Rodimus wasn't used to admitting uncertainty about anything, especially to himself, least of all about his own potential, er, shortcomings. But here and now, with Magnus, like this - 

"Are you sure I'll be enough for you?" Rodimus whispered.

Magnus leaned in and gently touched his forehead to Rodimus'. He shuttered his optics.

" _Yes_."

Rodimus' spark swelled in its casing at that one, single word, at the weight and the meaning Magnus put behind it, Magnus, always so deliberate with his choice of words, and Rodimus knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help himself.

"I mean, my spike's not small or anything - you've seen it, you know that - but Mags, you're just so big - "

Magnus pressed his finger to Rodimus' lips, shushing him. 

"The Magnus armor was designed to accommodate loadbearers of all shapes and sizes. As such, it also possesses the capacity to adjust, to some degree, the size of its valve for a potential variety of partners - " Magnus broke off to take a deep, shaking breath. 

"But even if it didn't - Rodimus, I still want you inside me. Please, Rodimus. _Please_."

It was a good thing Magnus still had Rodimus pinned to the wall, because even with his legs wrapped around Magnus' waist, hearing Magnus beg for his spike made Rodimus' knees go weak. He opened his panel instead and released his spike into Magnus' waiting hand.

Magnus wrapped his fingers around it, and Rodimus groaned his sparkfelt approval. He heard Magnus' panel snap aside, and, craning his head, Rodimus could see evidence of that liquid rush glistening on the folds of Magnus' valve. 

Magnus's spike jutted against his belly, and Rodimus marvelled at himself for a moment, felt a little puff of pride - _I can take that whole spike inside me_ \- and then Magnus rose up and sank down upon him and all Rodimus felt was pleasure.

Magnus took him to the hilt on the first stroke, but Rodimus could feel the calipers inside his valve fluttering along his spike, exploring its length before readjusting themselves and rippling down his spike again, burying it in a snug, wet heat.

Meanwhile Magnus kept moving his hips, his valve stroking Rodimus' spike from head to base each time he took it in, clenching and releasing and clenching again, and Rodimus' head lolled back as he lost himself to the rhythm and let himself be ridden.

At some point Magnus released Rodimus' arms to brace himself against the wall. His breathing was harsh in Rodimus' ear, and the sound of his controlled second-in-command, his exacting ex-Enforcer, _his_ Ultra Magnus, moaning out his designation might have been the hottest sound Rodimus had ever heard.

Magnus bore down on him again, calipers squeezing his spike tight once more, and Rodimus flung his arms around Magnus' neck and held on tight as Magnus brought them to completion, overload crashing down in a wave around them both.

Rodimus came back to himself slowly, little bubbles of sensation rising lazily through the warm afterglow in his frame and popping with tiny, tingling bursts of pleasure as his awareness resurfaced. 

"Wow," he managed. "Note to self: spend more time on the bridge with you."

Magnus still looked dazed. Rodimus grinned cheekily up at him. "I can even write it up in an official memo, if that would get you off - "

Magnus' gaze sharpened, and he cut Rodimus off with a growl.

"Oh, I'm not done with you yet."

Rodimus laughed as Magnus tossed him across the room, landing on their berth with a bounce. He fisted his hands in the sheets and stuck his aft in the air, array bared and ready, as Magnus advanced on him again.


	2. Chapter 2

Rodimus, sated and sore from the night before, was woken early the next morning by the sound of the washracks running.

 _Very_ early the next morning. Groggily, he checked his chronometer. It _was_ technically morning - a distinction he'd learned to make with Magnus - but early enough that the habsuite lights were still dark.

Rodimus rolled over, optics dim, and patted sleepily around the space on the berth next to him. It was still warm, so Magnus hadn't been in the washracks long. 

It was Minimus who returned to berth, the armor now no doubt neatly stored away. Rodimus felt his spark pulse in his chest at the sight of his smaller lover, and he lifted the covers, opening his arms to him.

But instead of falling into them, like Rodimus had expected (like he'd _hoped_ ), Minimus climbed carefully into berth and gingerly situated himself on his side of the bed, out of Rodimus' reach. His red optics were downcast, locked on his little green hands, which twisted together nervously in his lap.

Rodimus propped himself up on the pillows. "Mims, what's wrong?"

Minimus didn't lift his gaze. "I must apologize to you, Rodimus."

Rodimus replayed the last few seconds of audio to make sure he'd heard right, and the captain almost laughed out loud. Minimus had rocked Rodimus' world last night, and now he was _apologizing_?

"What for, Mims?"

"I lost control of myself last night. I - " The loadbearer's voice trembled, and Rodimus could hear the joints of his fingers creak. "I allowed myself to give in to my desires. I should never have allowed that to happen. I apologize. It will not happen again."

This time, Rodimus did laugh. He couldn't help it. " _Primus_ , Mims, you don't have to apologize for _that_ \- "

"But I do," Minimus said in a rush, optics finally lifting to meet his. "I have long known I desire you more than you - you want me, and - "

Rodimus hastily held up a hand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down there, Mims. What are you talking about?"

Minimus took a deep breath. His hands had stilled in his lap, but Rodimus could still see them shaking. "I have noticed that couples on board our ship frequently display their affection for each other in public."

Rodimus couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, I noticed you stopped writing citations for it after we started seeing each other - "

Realization struck Rodimus like lightning, and he sat bolt upright, their blankets sliding down his chest to puddle in his lap. "Wait, do you think I don't want you because I _don't_ do that?"

Minimus blinked. "Well, yes."

Rodimus stared at him, struggling to find his voice. When he finally did, it came out low and husky, with both sleep and desire, as he gazed deep into Minimus' optics.

"Minimus Ambus of Ambustus Minor, I want you more than I have ever wanted any other mech in my entire life."

Minimus' optics went perfectly round. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

"Minimus, I want to touch you _all the time_."

Rodimus reached his hand out oh-so-slowly for Minimus', so the little loadbearer would have plenty of time to move if he wanted. But he didn't, his optics fixed on Rodimus' hand as it carefully covered his own. 

"I want to hold your hand under the table when we're drinking at Swerve's."

Moving with a little more assurance, but just as much care, Rodimus looped his other arm around Minimus' shoulders and gently drew him close.

"I want to wrap my arm around your waist when we're standing next to each other on the bridge."

Minimus released a shaky, pent-up breath and relaxed, his optic lids fluttering half-shut. Rodimus gazed down with unabashed adoration at the mech snuggling into his side and leaned over to press his lips softly to the top of his head. 

"I want to kiss you when we're together in our offices."

He lowered his head and pressed another kiss to the side of Minimus' face.

"On your cheek."

Then, sitting there on the bed, Rodimus dipped Minimus in his arms and kissed him, a full-on, proper kiss, slow and savored and sweet. When they finally broke apart, Minimus' cooling system had clicked on unashamedly, and he was breathing hard.

"On your mouth."

Rodimus touched his forehead to Minimus', and his voice dropped to a murmur. 

"I want to frag you in the captain's chair - "

Minimus moaned in Rodimus' arms and arched against him, a shiver racing through his frame. His fans whined, blasting scorching air through wide-open vents as arousal crackled off his plating.

"R-rodimus - !"

Then and there, Rodimus vowed to make it happen, if only to see Minimus this unashamedly aroused in his arms again.

For now, though, Rodimus gently swung Minimus up to sit back beside him. He loosened his grip, in case the little loadbearer needed some space, but Minimus stayed there, leaning against him, so Rodimus wrapped his arm around him again.

"I want to do all of those things with you, Minimus. But _I_ thought _you_ didn't want me to. And - "

Rodimus felt his voice catch unexpectedly in his throat, and he hastily reset his vocalizer, looking away.

" - and I didn't wanna embarrass you, y'know?"

Minimus' fingers had begun playing with the blanket in their laps, but at the break in the speedster's voice, he reached for Rodimus' hand. Rodimus looked down at him.

"Rodimus, you have never embarrassed - "

Rodimus raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Minimus flushed and dipped his head. "It is not you but my own inexperience that embarrasses me now. I do not know - " He intertwined their fingers, studying them laced together in their laps with the same intensity Rodimus had seen him give to lines of rivets on the shuttle floor. "I do not know what I want."

Rodimus held his breath. He knew how often he could go too far, push too fast, _be_ too much, and he couldn't do that now, not like this - not with Minimus. 

"But you... _do_ want?" he asked quietly.

Minimus nodded emphatically.

Rodimus ex-vented in a rush.

"Okay! That's good. That's - yeah. We can figure this out."

Minimus looked hopefully, but -

"How?" he asked.

Rodimus thought fast. Realization, _insight_ , had always come easiest to him in the heat of the moment, and this moment wasn't heated in the same way as a firefight or a frag, but there was a _warmth_ between him and Minimus, a warmth they'd both been stoking with sidelong glances, tentative brushes of fields and fingers, their first wonderful, fumbling kiss, and Rodimus would do whatever he could to keep it fueled and glowing bright - 

"I've got it!"

Rodimus practically tumbled out of berth. There was a datapad sitting on the side table next to the couch, and he snatched it up.

Minimus' anxious voice came from across the room. "Rodimus, that datapad is only for - "

Rodimus froze, pad clutched in his hands, and looked back towards Minimus.

The little loadbearer seemed to steel himself. Then he nodded his assent.

Rodimus bounded back across the room and leapt, landing next to Minimus on the berth with a bounce. He gathered the little loadbearer to him and resettled them both, pulling Minimus into his lap and wrapping them both in generous swathes of warm, soft blankets.

Minimus had made him a memo template to use for official ship captain's business. Rodimus forgot about it - a lot - but not today. He pulled it up on the datapad.

"We," he announced proudly, "are going to make a list."

Minimus craned his neck. "A list?"

Rodimus rested his chin on top of Minimus' head, wrapping his arms around him and settling the datapad in his lap.

"A list! I'll write down some stuff couples sometimes do in public. If any of it sounds like something you'd like to do, we'll give it a 'yes'. If not, we'll give it a 'no'. Does that sound like something that could work?"

Rodimus felt Minimus nod.

"All right! Let's see here." He started to write. "Holding hands under the table at Swerve's?"

"Over the table."

"Over the table?"

"I may be uncertain in my expression of it, but I have no desire to conceal my relationship with you, Rodimus."

Rodimus dropped the datapad and buried his face in Minimus' neck, clutching the little loadbearer as tight to his chest as he could.

"Er, Rodimus?" Minimus asked awkwardly several minutes later. "The list?"

"Right! Right." Rodimus picked up the datapad again, blinking away a few stray droplets of light. "Okay! How about holding hands in the corridors?"

Minimus nodded. "Yes."

Rodimus got a little more daring. "Kissing you in my office?"

"...is it empty?"

"Yes."

Another nod of assent. Rodimus scribbled away. He'd convert his writing to Minimus' right-angle font later.

"Making out in your office?"

"...is the door locked?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

Rodimus' fans pinged him a request to activate. This was turning him on more than he'd thought.

They went through a couple more ideas together, Rodimus carefully noting down his own questions and Minimus' answers, along with any terms and conditions he requested, softly peppering the top of Minimus' head with kisses all the while.

"I'm assuming you probably don't want me making passes at you on the bridge," Rodimus said, his lips curving in a grin against the white metal of Minimus' helm as he started a new line.

Minimus answered stiffly. "It would not be appropriate for the figure of Ultra Magnus to respond to such advances - "

Rodimus hummed an affirmation, putting pen to pad -

" - butIwantyoutodoitanyway."

The words tumbled out in a rush, and Rodimus had to replay the audio clip twice before he understood what Minimus was saying.

Minimus hurried onwards. "I might not be able to reciprocate as - as warmly as I would wish in the moment, but I would appreciate your hand on my arm or, as you suggested, your arm around my waist, perhaps more - more than I can say."

He turned to face Rodimus. "I would endeavour to make it up to you later, of course - " he said earnestly.

Rodimus kissed him. 

When he was confident he'd left Minimus thoroughly dazed, Rodimus drew back. Minimus' fans had clicked on - and so had Rodimus' own. But Primus, once he'd started kissing Minimus, it could be so, so hard to stop. Through the building heat and desire, Rodimus gently touched his forehead to Minimus'.

"You'd have nothing to make up for," he whispered. 

Then he smiled, gazing into Minimus' optics. "I think I can stand a little too close to my stern, handsome boyfriend every once in a while."

Then the smile turned into a wink and a smirk. "Now, what about fragging in the captain's chair?"

It came again - the whine, the shiver and the gasp of "Rodimus!" - and Rodimus couldn't stand it anymore. He threw the datapad onto the bedside table with a clatter and bore Minimus back down onto the berth. 

"R-rodimus! The list - "

"Can we finish it later? Right now I really want to show you - " Rodimus lowered his helm to breathe the words into Minimus' ear. " - just how much I _desire_ you."

Minimus moaned, nodding frantically, so Rodimus lowered himself down onto his lover, pressing his lips and frame to Minimus' as they sank into the sheets, and did, right then and there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For katyamondfische on Tumblr, one of my favorite artists in the TF fandom and an amazing new friend I feel so lucky to have. I thought I'd lost all the inspiration and ideas I had for this chapter, but talking with her helped me get it back and remember what I'd wanted to write in the first place!

**Author's Note:**

> Written for #rodimags week!


End file.
